Hallo.
I have been surfing the net in order to buy for my old father a used and reconditioned PC on which to install Ubuntu for browsing the internet and checking the email.
I found absolutely nothing!
Every offer of reconditioned PC comes with Windows onboard.

OK, ok, I could just ignore it and format everything, but ... why shall I pay for a windows licence?

So my question is: does anybody knows about some reliable site to purchase a Windows free reconditioned PC?

Thank you very much

Surely it's the overall price that matters. I bought my desktop computer (a reconditioned Lenovo Thinkcentre) at the beginning of 2019 for £68 sterling. It had Windows 8 on it, so I suppose that was included in the price, but so what? It was still a heck of a lot cheaper than a new bare metal machine.

Let them know about your aversion to the viruses and other malware that are an inseparable part of the Windows ecosystem. Then perhaps the known shops can arrange a refurbished whitebox system for you. If not, I think it is a matter of a bit of detective work, calling around and sending some e-mails. There must be several small, independent shops which sell whitebox systems in your city (or the nearest city). The question is how to find the shops. LUGs/BUGs/BLUGs might help: What kind of Linux User Groups (LUG) and BSD User Groups (BUG) do you have near by? The members there might run such a shop or know who does.

I fully agree with avoiding the Windows tax even on refurbished computers because the means by which you can apply for a refund vary and are always time-consuming.

Do a look up for IT Recyclers in your Country, they automatically install MS on them when they test them prior to re selling to the public, but they have paid the MS tax already, just wipe it, don't fret.

Most of my pre used computers come from Ebay sales, it's a good place to pick up a bargain.

Is there any cheap expired chromebooks like Acer C720 available in italy?

I kinda looked ,but 67,00 EU, this Texan don't compute that amount. Here in the US. One can buy a chromebook with linux pre installed for about 50 bucks.

But you asked for a link so here goes nothing.
https://www.linuxadictos.com/en/comp...edium=facebook

Me? I bought Samsung Stumpy Chromebox desktop for less than 40 bucks. Just have to solder the bios jumper pin socket and change the bios over to boot usb for a Linux install. Hardrive is only 16 gig. But it has plenty of usb ports and a sd slot for external drives.

A chromebook with a replacement SSD would be a very inexpensive option, if you can get a working model and not a doorstop model.

At one time I had to maintain banger type pcs using old stuff, so compatability problems always existed with spares. They just ran a Dos program mostly. I would go into local small PC shops and ask:"Do you do Upgrades?"

They would start into some sales blabber which would interrupt."Good. Do you have any DOWNGRADES?"

I would then offer to take some of their old junk for landfill and pay them beer money in cash for it (cash was important) if it actually worked. They had to boot it. I got a lot of working stuff cheap that way.

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In the US, Dell sells some refurbished equipment without windows, i.e. with no operating system. Most do have windows, however. I don't read Italian but you can check here:

https://www.refurbed.it/c/laptop-dell/

With Dell I recommend the Latitude line. They are business class and generally better quality.

Yes, and better specs too. It's rare even to find a secondhand we get piles of secondhand Dells because the IT guys trade them in every 2 or 3 years.

EDIT: Half a sentence is missing. Should be:

Yes, and better specs too. It's rare even to find a secondhand Inspiron with 4 cores. we get piles of secondhand Dells because the IT guys trade them in every 2 or 3 years.

I buy my computers on eBay. I lost all of my computers in a fire in 2016 and since then I have bought four computers + eight or ten hard drives and SSDs on eBay. If you buy a used computer with an older version of Windows then there is usually no price difference between a Windows free computer and the same computer with an older version of Windows. Older versions of Windows have no value. If the refurbishing included installing a new version of Windows then the asking price will include the current cost of a Windows license.

If you buy a computer with Windows installed it will have the secure boot feature turned on. I installed Linux on one such a machine setting up secure boot such that I could boot into either Linux or Windows. On the other computers I turned off secure boot in the BIOS and wiped Windows off the machine. As far as I can see the only function that secure boot serves is to make it unduly complicated to install any software other than Windows on the computer. So I recommend that you disable secure boot and wipe out Windows on any machine that you want to install Linux on.

iqbala,

Most used PCs come with a Windows license. The original purchaser paid for it.

You are not actually paying a premium for it when buying a used PC.

Just format the drive with GParted or similar and install Ubuntu.

There are loads of used PCs on Ebay Italia, such as this one:
https://www.ebay.it/itm/363987846900...Bk9SR4qapPqGYQ

Try Discount Electronics. They ship nationwide. 1 year warranty. Mostly Dell. Currently shipping with Windows 10. Can ask them to ship with blank drive or sans drive. I bought one for my wife. Had 10 on it. I bought a new drive and swapped it out. Kept the drive with windows for a spare. Easier to sell a computer with windows on it if you need to get rid of it. Don't think you will get a price break with no no windows OS installed. Should get discount sans drive. I would recommend Dell because repair parts are much more available. Documentation too. I used to work at Dell. I can tell you some of their stuff is brilliant and some is junk.

Lookup Parts People as well. Also based in Austin TX.

Hmm

https://www.alibaba.com/countrysearc...-computer.html

Well, actually I have tried with a Dell bought on Amazon, but I had to give it back because the disk or the disk controller or something else was faulty, see my thred here

https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ch-4175718287/

Maybe it was just bad luck...

See my reply to https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ch-4175718287/